2 Important Questions

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leslienicole318
leslienicole318 Posts: 86 Member
edited July 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
1. I dont have a food scale and can't get one right now. I measure my food and make sure I'm looking at packages and online sources to make sure I'm picking my calories correctly on here for the measurements. How many calories do you think I'm off by since I can't weigh my food?
2. Next weekend we're going on a little mini vacation and I know we're going to be eating out a lot and I don't want to deprive myself too much. Can I eat l eat lightly Monday through Thursday (600-800 cals out of my regular daily 1200) to save calories for Friday through Sunday? Is that safe?
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Replies

  • CourtLHM
    CourtLHM Posts: 181 Member
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    1. No one can answer that question. Food scale for 40$ at bed bath and beyond has nutrition label on it works awesome.
    2. No
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    1. It could be as high as 20% so, keep track of your intake and if you are not losing weight lower your intake a little.
    2. I eat light all week long so I can eat more on the weekend. So yes
  • leslienicole318
    leslienicole318 Posts: 86 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Thank you!
  • st476
    st476 Posts: 357 Member
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    You could be off by a lot but it's also possible that you could be underestimating some things so it might even out? It depends, have you been losing what you expect to lose? If yes then you're not off by much.

    As for your second question, you could definitely do that. I ate 600 yesterday so I'm having 1800 today :) (or so I planned, but I think I'll only be able to get in 1500 so I'll move the extra 300 to tomorrow)
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    1. The permitted inaccuracy of nutrition labels is about 10%. The user error of guesstimating can be very far off.

    2. Don't deprive yourself too much. The experienced losers are going to have a conniption when I say it, but my calorie deficit to the mfp goal on a day when I use my treadmill is usually over 1000. Like you I'm going to have a mini vacation next week. For my mini vacation, I'm not going to worry about weighing or logging. I do not expect to go far overboard as I've learned what's possible for me. I'll likely show a gain of less than 10 lb when I return, and it will likely take me a couple of weeks to re-lose the mostly water of it and achieve the weight I had before the mini-vacation. Life happens this way.
  • DeficitDuchess
    DeficitDuchess Posts: 3,099 Member
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    If you aim to lose more than 1 pound a week, you have a large enough calorie cushion; to not have to use a food scale but you'll possibly only lose 25 ~ 50%, of what you'd like to, until you do get 1.

    When I bank calories, I only bank 100 daily; before & consume 100 less after, until I reach the amount necessary.
  • Atchmon
    Atchmon Posts: 16 Member
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    I bought a food scale from Wal-Mart for $20 was a reg. $40. If your goal is 1200 a day, then you should try to reach 1200 a day. If you short yourself and eat more later, your body is going to hang on to every calorie it takes in. It's basically a take one step forward, get sent two steps back kind of deal.
  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
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    If I were to measure food again with cups, I would probably use a 3/4 cup measurement and log one cup and use 1/3 for 1/2, etc. I do weigh all of my food but spent a long time weighing the cup measurements just so that I could have a better understanding of the weight of cup measurements. I can't recall any food where cup measurements were ever actually accurate. Hope that makes sense.

    And I often bank calories during the week for the weekend. It doesn't hinder my loss. As long as my weekly total stays within my allotment, I still lose weight.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
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    1. I lost weight without a food scale for a long time. The key for me was estimating high... If I wasn't sure if the chicken was 4 or 5 ounces, I chose 5.

    2. You can do that I suppose... but I think it would encourage major binging when you got on vacation. I think a better plan would be to eat your normal calories Mon - Thurs, and switch to maintenance calories for the vacation. That should give you 500-1000 calories extra per day. You wouldn't gain nor lose, which is fine for a while.
  • ashesfromfire
    ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member
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    I've list all my weight so far without a good scale - I know everyone on here seems by then, and I'm sure they are super useful, but for now just to your best.

    1200 is already pretty darn low, you're likely safe to stay there, and then.just e joy your trip and eat all the yummy things reasonably.

    Have fun!
  • natalie3505
    natalie3505 Posts: 169 Member
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    I picked up a super cheap $5 food scale at walmart and still lose. Maybe not as quickly as I could if I had a digital, but my budget doesn't allow for one right now. And I sometimes bank a few calories for the weekend or heavier meal nights, but don't do that many or you won't have any energy throughout the day. Maybe just do 100 or so per day and ENJOY your vacation within reason, then get back on point when you get back. Good luck and have fun!!
  • natalie3505
    natalie3505 Posts: 169 Member
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    Oh and the scale I bought want a clearance item, it's in the kitchen utensil area and regular priced at $5.
  • leslienicole318
    leslienicole318 Posts: 86 Member
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    ^thank you so much I'm going to get one this weekend!
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
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    1.) I lost 40lbs without a food scale by estimating/measuring. If I was measuring 1 cup, I'd skim a finger off the top of the cup before eating it. I also got a digital food scale with a tare function that works great on amazon for $10. They aren't bank breakers.

    2.) Sure, you could do that but I think you'll be miserable leading up to, and after your vacation. When we indulge, we balloon in water weight. Personally if it were me, I would eat my calorie goal up to and after, and while enjoying my weekend try to stick to maintenance calories, still log as best as I could, and make the best choices I could while out. When I got home, I'd avoid the scale for a week or two while I got back to normal, because regardless of how you go about it, you're going to see a jump. But at least if you figure out your maintenance calories and stay around there, you know that the weight is mostly water/sodium. If you go off the rails and don't keep track, not so much.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    1 - you've already gotten good answers.

    2 - same thing, but I'm gonna add my take. Enjoy your vacation. Like lorrpb mentioned above, expect a lesser loss (or maintain) during vacation. I'm going on vacation in a couple of weeks. I'm not going to gorge, but I'm going to enjoy myself.
  • angeleyes4643
    angeleyes4643 Posts: 151 Member
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    I have a super cheap scale that I bought for maybe $5 from Walmart. Also, use measuring cups/spoons when you can.

    There are many ways to eyeball amounts if you dont' have scales.

    The palm of your hand or a deck of cards is approximately 3 ounces of steak.
    a checkbook is the size of 3 ounces of fish.
    A cup of cereal is about the size of your fist.
    A baseball is equal to one cup of pasta, rice or mashed potatoes, veggies,
    a ping pong ball represents two tablespoons of peanut butter or a 1/4 of a cup of dried fruit.
    Make a thumbs up. The section above your thumb knuckle is approxmm the size of one teaspoon of butter.
    Hold up your index finger and middle finger. those two fingers combined are approx. the size of one ounce of cheese.

  • leslienicole318
    leslienicole318 Posts: 86 Member
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    Thank you to everybody who has answered for the great responses! ^I do use measuring cups for everything! And it seems I've actually been over estimating on my fish and chicken ounces so I hope I'll be okay on that! Thank you for the comparisons!
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I got my food scale for $10.99 on amazon. But I only use it to measure dry stuff like rice, flour, etc. I'm just really bad at eyeballing or even using measuring cups for that. I can fit 2 cups of rice in a one cup measure. Other than that, I'd say just estimate up and you will probably be ok.

    for question 2...I don't know about eating as low as 600-800...I'd be really hungry and mean. I'd probably just say screw it and eat what I want on vacation.

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